On October 27th 1970 the Zodiac Killer mailed the Halloween card to the San Francisco Chronicle, stating "sorry no cipher" in the form of a cross, and fashioning "Paradice" and "Slaves" in the same manner. In the four corners he placed By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife. For anyone who believes the September 27th 1969 Lake Berryessa attack was at the hand of the Zodiac Killer, must surely conclude the "by knife" reference on the Halloween card to be admitting his participation in this crime, as this phrase on the car door had been withheld from the public and newspapers alike. This inextricably links the author of the Halloween card to the Lake Berryessa attack. Elements of the Halloween card can be found in the 340 cipher, with "Paradise" and "Slaves" bisecting the cipher (17 X 17) horizontally and vertically, with the word "by" placed horizontally in each of the four quadrants.

The Halloween card alliance to the Lake Berryessa attack formed "by knife", in conjunction with the knothole in the tree and the wording "peek-a-boo you are doomed", should leave little doubt the two are connected. There is also a strong connection from the Halloween card to both the December 7th 1969 and December 16th 1969 Fairfield letters, and in turn, all three to the 340 cipher. The December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter contained a crude arrangement of 9 symbols (10 including the large crosshairs), impossible to decode as it stood. The four crosshairs around a larger version looked extremely similar to the Halloween card arrangement - and bearing in mind the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter was accompanied by a crude drawing of a knife entitled "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac", it seemed likely the short code may have been Zodiac's initial attempt at revealing the hidden words on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's 1956 white Karmann Ghia.

Thanks to Tahoe 27's excellent find linking the Halloween card to a Tim Holt comic book, depicting Death By Fire, Death By Gun, Death By Rope and Death By Knife, it seemed obligatory to consider the connection from the Halloween card "by knife" to the "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac", along with the similarity in design between the Paradice/Slaves arrangement and the four crosshairs circling a larger version. The four methods of death represented by the four crosshairs or targets.

The Halloween card, 340 cipher and both Fairfield letters seemed intertwined. The fact that Zodiac placed "sorry no cipher" in the form of a cross rather than just singularly, can be linked to "Paradice" and "Slaves", and therefore the 340 cipher. Was he suggesting the 340 cryptogram was not a true cipher? It appeared he may have been dropping clues to the design of the 340 cipher as early as December 7th 1969, placing a 38 character code in the first Fairfield letter.

On the left, "by" can be observed in all four quadrants. Parts of the December 7th 1969 code are highlighted in blue, while four of the adjacent symbols from the December 16th 1969 code are highlighted in yellow.

The December 7th letter opened with the words "I just need help", reminiscent of the December 20th 1969 Melvin Belli letter, and followed by "I will kill again, so expect it any time the will be a cop", similar in fashion to the April 20th 1970 letter, where Zodiac stated "But there is more glory in killing a cop than a cid because a cop can shoot back". The December 16th letteropened with the same two words as the December 7th letter, stating "I just want to tell you", almost certainly tying them together - along with the handwriting and crude coding. Bearing in mind neither of the Fairfield letters appeared in the newspapers, it appears that Zodiac either just accidentally mirrored these communications with the subsequent December 20th 1969 and April 20th 1970 letters, or he was the author of all four.

Was the Paradice, Slaves, By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife configuration a representation of the number of murders he was intending to secure for the afterlife. Paradice, Slaves, By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife oddly contained 38 letters. The character count on the December 7th 1969 Fairfield letter code was 38. The intended victims on the December 16th 1969 Fairfield letter was 38. The 340 'Dripping Pen' card, eerily similar to the "Bleeding Knife of Zodiac" depiction, opened with the wording "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen." This phrase again contained the words "I just", but also an alphanumeric count of 38. The April 20th 1970 letter, stating "I hope you have fun trying to figgure out who I killed" had a code that added up to 38 when the alphabet was placed alongside it.And finally, the Exorcist letter (widely believed to be the final offering by the Zodiac Killer) claimed 37 victims, but promising to kill again if his demands were not met. Probably coincidence, but curious nonetheless.

The 'Dripping Pen' card may have been a depiction chosen by the Zodiac Killer regarding his exploits at Lake Berryessa. The pen dripping blood as he is writing on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's vehicle, and his reason for washing it. The 340 cipher accompanying this card, with the "Paradice", "Slaves" and "by knife" link back to the Halloween card, further indicating a connection to Lake Berryessa through these communications.

​The 'Death By Fire, Death By Gun, Death By Rope and Death By Knife' agenda could have been formed in the mind of the killer as early as the beginning of his campaign of terror, when he mailed the 408 cipher, stating "the best part of it is that when I die I will be reborn in paradise and all the (people) I have killed will become my slaves. I will not give you my name because you will try to slow down or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife". The same paradice and slaves permeating through much of his correspondence, and possibly the 340 cipher also. "By knife" an integral part of both Fairfield letters and the Halloween card, to hopefully lay any doubts to rest, of his involvement and knowledge of the writing at the foot of the message on Bryan Hartnell's car door.

The December 16th 1969 "knife," in a side-by-side comparison to the writing on the car door of Bryan Hartnell. Anyone could have read about the Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard with a knife, but would an impostor have emphasized it in the form of a drawing, as to signify its importance, without knowing for certain the hidden message on the car door? And how would the Zodiac Killer, when designing the Halloween card, accidentally mirror the "death by fire, gun, rope and knife" arrangement on the Fairfield letter, when the December 16th 1969 letter was never published in the newspapers. Somebody attempting to imitate the Zodiac Killer in both December letters, would surely have attempted to imitate him, not go out of their way to undo the neatness and organization exhibited by the 340 cipher and thereby nullify their efforts? The Zodiac Killer would have had no such concerns.

Nicely tied Richard! I have no idea what to make the fact that the number 38 can be produced so simply throughout all of these letters but you have certainly formed a solid argument that the number meant something to him and that numerology itself was on the fiend's mind. The Fairfield letters too seem all the more compelling as authentic Zodiac. Tahoe will surely offer a squabble about nearly everything in this article if she comes across it but your numerology theory is definitely getting stronger. Good job!

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Richard

11/22/2018 03:13:14 pm

The number 38 may just be one of those coincidences Drew, but thought I'd pop it in there. I nevertheless am confident that these two communications are from Zodiac. I know Tom Voigt and Tahoe are not convinced, but everyone can decide for themselves. If they are genuine, as I believe, then Fairfield and the floods may enter the fray again. The modus operandi of the Zodiac is overstated, as many serial killers don't stick to a rigid formula, and the same can be applied to the communications. Just because a killer neatly writes one letter, or constructs a uniform neat code, doesn't mean a disorganized one is evidence of a copycat. It really isn't difficult to manufacture a fake, given time. The fact the author just scrawled the Fairfield code shows he wasn't even attempting to pass himself off as Zodiac, because he knew he was. We often see the 78 and 86 letters ruled out, despite the fact the handwriting looks good to me. Then again, I have never placed too much emphasis on handwriting analysis. There is still something big to be found in the Zodiac communications, but I can't put my finger on it.

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Drew

11/23/2018 03:34:44 pm

If there were other killers who were known to write to the media about their crimes then we would be able to make comparisons, but Zodiac remains an odd duck and thusly basing assumptions on other killers is problematic. Regarding an analysis of Zodiac’s less than ridgid criminal modus operandi, with only four confirmed attacks we do have too small a sample to confirm a stable theory, especially with the significant SF urban variation, but nevertheless the crimes can be seen as forming a definable pattern of attacks on unsuspecting constrained youthful motorists, albeit with evolving path corrections. From LHR to BRS he learns to block in his victims in with his car before his approach to ensure they can not drive away and to not let them exit their vehicle. From BRS to LB he makes attempts to even more firmly keep his victims restrained and he also learns to leave the payphone receiver off the hook. After obtaining undesired results at BRS and LB in SF he learns to ensure his victim has expired before authorities arrive. If he was responsible for Johns, Salem, or Lass in 1970 his methods of victim imprisonment became more schematized. If Bates was a Zodiac victim then his deception techniques were long established. If he was involved in the Domingo and Edwards murder Gun, Rope, Knife, and Fire were always part of his game. Although it seems like we can at least affirm that sex was never a part of his methods, all we can actually confirm is that sex was never an aspect of the crimes he wrote to the media about. Finally, as we have seen, that he stated he would disguise crimes leaves the door open to a multitude of conclusions.

Richard

11/25/2018 02:31:55 am

The Zodiac misspelled words in his 408 cipher, but he accidentally left out the word people which would have required a 396 character cipher, thereby signing off with I am the Zodiac (12 remaining characters). In the December 7th Fairfield letter he made a point of highlighting the top 4 characters of the 340 cipher, along with the bottom 5. Given the possible interconnectivity of the 340 and 13 symbol cipher from the Zodiac wording at the bottom of the 340, I couldn't help wondering if the 408 (but intended 396 character) cipher could be connected to the 340, both Fairfield letters and the April 20th 1970 cipher.
The December 7th Fairfield letter had 38 characters, the December 16th Fairfield letter had 5 characters before the crosshairs and the April 20th letter had 13 characters.
340+38+5+13 = 396 characters - just like the original intention of the 408 cipher. Strange this numerology lark.

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Richard

11/25/2018 12:05:18 pm

Here's a few 'coincidences' regarding the Halloween card, bearing in mind the opening wording on the correspondence: "I feel it in my bones, You ache to know my name, And so I'll clue you in. Why was a card depicting Halloween chosen to commemorate the Lake Berryessa stabbing. "Peek-a- boo" (there are many variations: for example, where trees are involved, "Hiding behind that tree!" is sometimes added).has numerous connections regarding Cecelia Shepard. The English name is peep-bo. The earliest record of this rhyme is in a manuscript of around 1805, which contains only the first verse. There are references to a children's game called "bo-peep", from the 16th century, including one in Shakespeare's King Lear (Act I Scene iv), for which "bo-peep" is thought to refer to the children's game of peek-a-boo, but there's no evidence that the rhyme existed earlier than the 18th century. The additional verses are first recorded in the earliest printed version in a version of Gammer Gurton's Garland or The Nursery Parnassus in 1810.
The phrase "to play bo peep" was in use from the 14th century to refer to the punishment of being stood in a pillory. For example, in 1364, an ale-wife, Alice Causton, was convicted of giving short measure, for which crime she had to "play bo pepe thorowe a pillery". Little Bo-Peep was an English nursery rhyme about a SHEPARDess.
The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks. The Halloween card is depicting a skeleton in a pillory position. See image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillory#/media/File:TitusOates-pilloried_300dpi.jpg
Origin: Middle English: from Old French pilori, probably from Provençal espilori (associated by some with a Catalan word meaning ‘peephole’, of uncertain origin). The eye in the peephole of the tree.
Cecelia is a variant spelling of Cecilia, derived from the Latin Caecilía which is the feminine form of the Old Roman family name Caecilius. Caecilius comes from the Latin word “caecus” which means “blind” and developed as a byname for a Roman plebeian family who dated back to the 5th century B.C. The Plebs were free landowning Roman citizens and fell somewhere between the slaves and the elite Patricians in terms of their socio-political position. The ancient Caecilius family traced their ancestry to a Roman mythological figure, Caeculus (known as “little blind boy”), who was a son of Vulcan, god of fire. Legend has it that Caeculus was born of Vulcan’s spark, found on a hearth and raised among shepherds.
That name 'Shepherd' again - the blindfolded skeleton and the eyes.
The myth concerning the birth of Caeculus and his divine parentage[6] is of great interest for the study of Latin religion. In the myth he is the nephew of two divine twin brothers (divi fratres) called the Depidii (or Digidii). They had a younger sister. One day while she was sitting by the hearth, a spark landed on her and she was impregnated. When the child was born, she exposed him near the temple of Jupiter, where he was found, lying next to a fire, by a group of girls (one version says that these girls were also sisters of the Depidii), who had come to fetch water from a nearby spring. The girls took the child to his uncles, the Depidii, who reared him. After spending his childhood among shepherds, he gathered a band of youngsters of his age, and founded the city of Praeneste. Caeculus was unharmed by a fire, caused by his casting doubt on the divinity of his ancestry. He also showed mastery over fire by starting and extinguishing another at his will. The smoke though damaged his eyes, which remained smaller than normal, hence his name, Caeculus, little blind one.
Latin Meaning: The name Cecelia is a Latin baby name. In Latin the meaning of the name Cecelia is: Blind. Famous bearer: The blind St. Cecilie, patron saint of music, was a talented musician.
Curiously, Simon & Garfunkel released Cecelia on April 20th 1970, 6 months before this card. The song's title refers to St. Cecilia, patron saint of music in the Catholic tradition.
Peep-bo was a character in The Mikado, the topic of Zodiac's last confirmed communication. The name Bryan is thought to be derived from an Old Celtic word meaning "high" or "noble". It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain; that such festivals may have had pagan roots; and that Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church.

Strange how things can be patterned together.

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Shawn

11/26/2018 05:59:00 am

Maybe you should write an article related just to "coincidences". You have eluded to this coincidental word many times :)

From an article I read....

Some might say it’s just because people don’t understand probability. In their 1989 paper, Methods for Studying Coincidences, the mathematicians Persi Diaconis and Frederick Mosteller considered defining a coincidence as “a rare event,” but decided “this includes too much to permit careful study.” Instead, they settled on, “A coincidence is a surprising concurrence of events, perceived as meaningfully related, with no apparent causal connection.”

From a purely statistical point of view, these events are random, not meaningfully related, and they shouldn’t be that surprising because they happen all the time. “Extremely improbable events are commonplace,” as the statistician David Hand says in his book The Improbability Principle. But humans generally aren’t great at reasoning objectively about probability as they go about their everyday lives.

Indeed Richard....and not meaning to simply generalise,but the Halloween Card is ''clearly'' a ''jamboree'' of eclecticism.....which includes the Lake Berryessa allusions,to which you refer.

Also some Harper Lee references to ''To kill a mockingbird'' [Paul ''Aviary''].The American Civil War,The Southern Cross,also,in terms of Astronomy....and Arlington Cemetery,on the back....as well as all the disguised ''14'' references....and ''Wheel of Death''.

It's a ''Feast of Thought'',for the Zodiac....no doubt.

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Richard

11/25/2018 02:05:13 pm

There are so many variables in the card Rubislaw it is virtually impossible to ever fully prove any theory ever proposed. It cannot be them all, but knowing the correct one will likely always elude us. The Tahoe27 find regarding the death wheel is almost certainly correct, the rest of the card is effectively up for grabs.

David and Paul,just received ''one stone'' each....and Mike only got more,because he was in the way,of Zodiac's anger towards Darlene.

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Johnny Bravo

11/25/2018 02:39:31 pm

I have written many ciphers for myself. I know for a fact that it is very easy to incorporate those word-like symbols into quadrants. You can even make a lovely ZODAIK at the end and use + and - symbols in a way that looks balanced. I think the Zodiac was just playing games. You are making far too much of this whole quadrant theory in my opinion. It does not contain a solution and nor should it be seen as some kind of mystical key to the solution. It is just superficial decoration that even the most amateur cryptographer can incorporate.

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Richard

11/26/2018 03:48:35 am

I couldn't say with utter conviction on a quadrant theory, but equally wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. Saying something does not contain a solution full stop, I believe is not possible. Contending or believing there is a high probability the card or correspondence doesn't contain anything resembling a solution is about the maximum one could argue. There are no certainties in this case. I must also stress that the articles presented on this site usually come with wording "may", "might" or "possibly", because very rarely can I be certain of anything. I'll leave that up to the reader Johnny. Thanks for the input.

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Drew

11/25/2018 03:24:12 pm

Throughout the Zodiac's greeting card offerings there are so many images and ideas that seem to resonate with his actions and threats that it makes one wonder how much thought was actually put into each selection. His choice of stamps and words from newspaper clippings are also provocative in light of the god word image appearing at the end of the first line of the 340 (in line with the phrase on its stamp 'In the beginning god') and some of your numerology findings on the Pines and Pace cards. When we see the Dripping Pen card with its use of the phrase 'do a thing' and the Zodiac clearly re-appropriating the meaning as a murderous threat, we have to assume the selections were careful. The fact that he incorporated the obscure Tim Holt comic reference (perhaps over several correspondences) and went to the trouble of adding so much imagery also implies that the cards were meant to at least puzzle us if not to clue us in. Whether a meaning can be extracted that is in any way useful in discerning the killer's identity or evidence that he knew victims like Shepard or Lass however is another matter. I feel as though he did not leave us much beyond hunting to allude to his personal life. One of the few knowns in the Zodiac case that I believe should always be considered in analyzing the correspondences is that for whatever reasons Zodiac clearly felt entirely safe from detection sending out oodles of handwriting samples and cultural references. If the letters and cards have useful clues they remain quite well hidden from me. That said when you pile up the likely coincidental hints that the playful author left for us it becomes quite a maze of possibilities.

Although we could assume that he acquired such items as needed he may well have stocked up or had a convenient supply at the ready due to an employment situation. It is tempting indeed to imagine that he worked at Woolworths where all his stationary needs could be readily available. Some forum poster was going on about DNA and fingerprints and how impossible it would be without a strict gloved procedure to purchase handle write and send such items without leaving a trace. The fellow posed the question, 'Did he buy his paper stock and cards while wearing gloves?' It is perhaps worth noting that if he did have regular access to these supplies that executing such a careful plan would be quite simple, whereas stockpiling and storing these things for extended time periods would leave his supplies vulnerable to several forms of marking. Of course incorrect handling of such items by the Chronicle and police could have resulted in destroying such evidence. Alright, I admit this post was a bit of a rambler, but it was Richard who started it, its all his fault.

It's always worth ruminating,Drew,and even if we run over ''old courses'',it might spark some inspiration for someone fresher,to the case.

I certainly go along with your notion that.Zodiac didn't just think things up,on the spur of the moment.Something would inspire him,and he would save it,for the appropriate ''rainy day''.We know that many great philosophers and poets,worked in this vein.The ''Roget Thesaurus'' was just about invented for these artists.

I came up,with one,only this evening...the song,''Big Yellow Taxi'',by Joni Mitchell,released in April 1970.

Interesting,Richard,that you had recently pointed out the typed letter,referred by Graysmith....which refers to a father,who has been killing,since 1947,and ''older brother''.A letter,which probably ''speaks'',with a figurative tongue [?].

I've mentioned it once before,though have no ''great'' conviction,either way.....but.....what if the Zodiac,is a product ''By Knife''.....a Caesarian birth [?].

As you have intimated,Richard,both the Fairfield letters,are undoubtedly genuine Zodiac.

This is not a ''join the club'' point.Even those that dispute them,find themselves alluding to them,''accidentally'' when requiring to fill in details,to bolster a particular viewpoint.

Those Fairfield letters....came,just too soon,in the scheme of events,for a copycat,to have got to work,and produced a ''Zodiac mark II'' product.

The April 1978 letter,represented something ''ripe'' for making of a parodied letter....and I believe that the reference to Toschi,is the ''giveaway'' to fraudulence,with that correspondence.Zodiac would think nothing more ''beneath him'',to give any credit,sarcastic or genuine,to a ''cop''.No humility,until you have conquered [?]....for Zodiac.

Once I had figured out the numerical puzzle,in that second Fairfield letter....for me,that was the final confirmation of authenticity....having already figured out the cryptograms,in both Fairfield letters.

The simplest of alphabetic substitution :

C A F H I C H

This is Zodiac,up to his duplicity,again,with two obvious interpretations.

1] ''California Highway Choppers''
2] ''California Hitchhikers''

Both,games to dodge the California Highway Patrol cops,and the inference of,what he regarded as ''easy prey''.

But,even with that aside,those two Fairfiield letters give us an understanding of a tumultuous month of December,for the Zodiac...inside his head,as much as anything else.....and may well have included the two ''Day-to-Day'' forecast ''cut and paste'''s,also....in the lead up to the confirmed Belli letter,when Zodiac ''falls at Belli's feet'',in a close to emotional breakdown moment,for Zodiac.

That December 1969 month,was one of ''itchy feet'',and self-inflicted torment for Zodiac....and the Fairfield letters,give more away,regarding this December month.....than anything else.

I note that your next topic is ''Eighth Victim''.Well,that really is,for me,the reason for a busy December 1969,for Zodiac,on correspondences.

This eighth victim,wasn't planned,like his project attacks at Berryessa and Presidio Heights.

The euphoria of his successful projects,was wearing off,and the ''340'' hadn't been a success,on account of no solution offered,in sight.In late November,a restless Zodiac went out hunting again.

Yes,he found and killed his eighth victim....but when he contemplated what he had done,afterwards.....it didn't make him feel as good,as past glories....plus he realized that he could dangle this eighth victim in front of the authorities,as a tease,without getting caught.

Hence,the December correspondences,as a ''therapy'' of a sort.But even those correspondences,backfired on him,for a ''feel good'' factor.

This,I see,as the main reason that LE have put ''covers'' on the authenticity of those December 1969 correspondences.

It all comes down,to question marks,over an eighth victim.

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Richard

11/28/2018 09:11:34 am

I know you like the old Fairfield topics Rubislaw, so thought I'd do a bit more digging, especially when I considered the LEO paste-up. Am now looking for other meaning behind the wording on the October 10th and 11th material. Your finding on FLT 555 I am positive is correct, based on the font and FLT standing for filter. If it has meaning though, did Leona smoke, and if so, which brand. This wording can be our challenge through December. We may not agree, but it's worth delving in a little further. Who knows if the "Cancer" and "Leo" paste-ups are Zodiac or not, or have any specific meaning, but it's something to do eh.

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Richard

11/28/2018 09:14:58 am

I used to dismiss the Oct 10th and 11th paste-ups, but am not so sure anymore. The timing is uncanny, just like the Pat Tan hanging one day before April 20th 1970.

In what is in evidence,on Zodiac correspondence,alone....he goes from ''7'' to ''nine'' victims,in his Belli letter concerns.

So,an eighth victim is ''begging'' to be found.And,surely,we will find clues,somewhere among his 4 unconfirmed correspondences,in December,leading up to the December 20th letter,to Belli.

Excellent spot,then,over the possible ''LEO'' link to Leona Roberts.I had been considering ''Law Enforcement Organisations'',but this new spot,by you does bring Ms.Roberts,back into contention.

As you know,I have recently been looking at Elaine Davis [December 1st].But,this whole topic ''demands'' more research,anyway.If we can find a few more pointers....then it better explains,perhaps,why LE might be reluctant to place more exposure,on this month of December 1969.

....P.S. Could the ''Lucky'' be referring to ''Lucky Strike'' cigarettes [?].

Thanks...it's just a shame that those forecasts,are in such ''photocopied'' condition.

But,we have to make the best of what is available.

A few months ago,I e-mailed a ''girly magazine'' collectors club,over this ''Hang Ups'',believing it to be a title for the ''Agony Aunt'' section for men....possibly ''Playboy''.No returns yet,on my questions...but I feel confident that the whole forecast pages,are taken from a well known men's magazine,around that very time [Sept - Dec 1969].

Trouble is,these magazines can fetch $1000 or more,now...so,access to leafing through them,is difficult,to say the least.

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